Proposals to CaliIfornia offshore and inland crude to Los Angeles area refineries offer a wide range of options covering new and existing systems (see map).
The proposed Pacific Pipeline is an insulated, 20 in. pipeline with design capacity of 130,000 b/d extending 132 miles from Emidio in Kern County via a connection to the All American Pipeline (AAPL) to six Los Angeles area refineries. It was previously planned along a coastal route from Santa Barbara to three refineries but rerouted inland to add San Joaquin Valley light and heavy crudes to OCS production. Sponsors are Anschutz Corp., Chevron Corp., Unocal Corp., and Texaco Inc.
PPSI's alternative Mojave route would replace an initial 72 miles between Emidio and Sylmar, running 68 miles from an AAPL connection near the town of Mojave and Highway 14.
The ability of PPSI to batch OCS and SJV crudes was considered a benefit over the Cajon and Mojave alternatives, since AAPL does not now have that capability.
The proposed Cajon Pipeline is an insulated 20 in. pipeline with a design capacity of 150,000 b/d that calls for 85 miles of new pipeline from an AAPL connection at 12 Gauge Lake near Barstow and extending to an existing Edison Pipeline & Terminal Co. (EPTC) system at Etiwanda.
The EPTC line requires replacing three 8 in. pipeline segments with 12-16 in. noninsulated pipe. Cajon's previous plan was for a 152 mile route, 180,000 b/d capacity that did not use the EPTC connection.
ARCO Pipeline Co. has three options:
- Reversal of Line No. 90 currently transporting Alaskan North Slope crude from Los Angeles to AAPL at Cadiz, Calif., for transport to the Gulf Coast. Capacity of as much as 70,000 b/d is possible.
- Expansion of Line No. 63 from 100,000 b/d to 113,000 b/d, completed in April.
- Upgrading a small portion of Line No. 1-not in operation because of damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake-to connect with existing Texaco Inc. and Unocal Corp. pipelines to Los Angeles to a capacity of 28,000 b/d. This will proceed if Line 90 reversal does not meet demand.
Mobil's proprietary M-70 line carrying SJV crude to the company's Torrance refinery was recently expanded to 95,000 b/d from 63,000 b/d. A connection to AAPL to accommodate OCS oil is possible but not proposed by Mobil at this time.
Existing train transport carries about 40,000 b/d from Bakersfield to Los Angeles while 7,000 b/d of OCS crude is being taken to Los Angeles via trucks.
Existing transport options to other destinations include:
- AAPL's 300,000 b/d line to Texas.
- ARCO Pipeline Co.'s 100,000 b/d system from Cadiz, Calif., to Texas.
- Unocal's 30,000 b/d Sisquoc pipeline from AAPL in Santa Barbara to the Santa Maria refinery in San Luis Obispo County.
- Three pipelines carrying SJV crude to San Francisco owned by Unocal, Texaco, and Chevron, with a combined capacity of about 382,000 b/d. The Texaco and Chevron lines are proprietary.
- Chevron's El Estero 60,000 b/d pipeline carrying SJV crude to a marine terminal in San Luis Obispo County. Chevron intends to mothball marine transport from there if Pacific Pipeline is built.
Copyright 1996 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.